Opening: High in a tree in a rainforest in Costa Rica, a mother sloth slept, cradling her baby close to her. The mother was sleeping, but the baby was wide awake.

Synopsis:

Meet Emily, a 10-year-old girl, who is active in a youth-led conservation program to save rain forest animals in western Costa Rica. She helps care for an orphaned sloth at an animal sanctuary by taking it for walks along a jungle path and participates in other activities to protect local wildlife and their environment.

When Emily arrives at a local youth program, Kids Saving the Rainforest (KSTR), she and her friends perform a play about teaching tourists to not feed wild animals human food. Bananas and cookies makes them sick. They play is a good way to practice when they encounter tourists. Afterwards, they grab garbage bags and enter the jungle to clean up trash, plastic bottles, gum wrappers and food packages that can make animals sick. They also sponsor blue rope bridges to help squirrel monkeys cross busy roads and stay away from dangerous power lines. Because of their work, the titi monkey populations are growing.

The story highlights the impact young people can have on protecting local wild animals and preserving natural habitats.

Like the earlier books in this World Association of Kids and Animals (WAKA) series (Doyli to the Rescue: Saving Baby Monkeys in the Amazon; Tortuga Squad: Kids Saving Sea Turtles in Costa Rica; and Tony and His Elephants, set in Thailand), the text and photos show a youngster deeply involved in caring for the well-being of baby wild animals in need of shelter, food, and lots of love.

Why I like this book:

Cathleen Burnham’s mission is to find, photograph and celebrate children who are united in a cause to rescue and save endangered wildlife around the globe. Her true and inspiring photodocumentary books are a call to children globally that they don’t have to be adults to make a difference. Emily and the youth of western Costa Rica are passionate young conservationists trying to save rainforest animals through their organization Kids Saving the Rainforest (KSTR).

Burnham’s books inspire and empower children. Every page is filled with rich, beautiful and touching photographs that capture life in the Costa Rica rainforest and shows the delicate ecosystems and the gorgeous endangered species living there, including sloths, birds and a variety of monkeys. She also focuses on the dangers in the town of monkeys trying to cross the streets and shows the young KSTR activists engaged with tourists.

The conservation message is clear and blended into a glimpse of everyday life of child activists who are involved in inspiring small-scale, grassroots animal-rescue efforts. The story shows the impact young people can have on protecting local wild animals and preserving natural habitats.

Burnham continues to show that children can have a real impact on the world around them! Kids are not just the next generations of caretakers of our planet, they also can do things now to make a difference. The WAKA series are stories of kid power — real kids who inspire other kids to empathize with the wild world around them, to see how we are all connected on this planet, and to find ways to make a difference.

Resources: To learn more about the amazing things Emily and other committed children are doing to protect wildlife around the globe, visit the World Association of Kids and Animals (WAKA) and get involved. There is a special teacher’s guide available for classroom use. Make sure you read the Author’s Note about the story behind KSTR and the two nine-year-old girls who founded the organization. Burnham also encourages kids to ask themselves, “What do you care about most? What can you do to make a difference? Is there something you can do in your community?

Every Friday, authors and KidLit bloggers post a favorite picture book. To see a complete listing of all the Perfect Picture Books (PPB) with resources, please visit author Susanna Leonard Hill’s website.

Opening: It’s not always easy being a girl — anywhere in the world. It’s especially challenging in some places. There are countries where it’s hard for girls to go to school and where women need their husband’s permission to get a passport or even t o leave the house.

Synopsis:

Women around the world have long dreamed big, even when they’ve been told their dreams didn’t matter. They’ve spoken out, risen up and fought for what’s right, even when they’ve been told to be quiet. Whether in science, the arts, sports or activism, women and girls throughout history have been determined to break barriers and change the status quo. They haven’t let anyone get in their way and have helped us better understand our world and what’s possible. In this companion book to She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World, Chelsea Clinton introduces readers to a group of thirteen incredible women who have shaped history all across the globe.

She Persisted Around the World is a book for everyone who has ever aimed high and been told to step down, for everyone who has ever raised their voice and been told to quiet down, and for everyone who has ever felt small, unimportant or unworthy.

Why I like this book:

Chelsea Clinton’s inspiring book empowers/encourages girls worldwide to nurture their big dreams and never give up. There may be difficult times, but they must be true to themselves and fight for what they believe. Challenges build character and resilience and leads to success. It’s important for girls to find the power inside them and believe in it so they will one day be the next generation of doctors, scientists, environmentalists, artists, leaders, authors, astronauts and athletes.

This is what girls will learn as they delve into the stories of 13 ground-breaking women who never give-up despite the extraordinary challenges they faced. There are some familiar faces like Joanne (J.K.) Rowling, author of the bestselling Harry Potter series ; Marie Curie’s work in radioactivity; Malala Yousafzai’s tireless work to promote better education for girls globally; and Yuan Yuan Tan who against many odds, becomes the most famous Chinese ballerina of all times, performing at the San Francisco Ballet.

And the not-so-familiar women like Dr. Mary Verghesewho loses the use of her legs in a car accident, and founds the first functional rehabilitation center in India; Leymah Gbowee who lives through the two Liberian civil war and unites thousands of Christian and Muslim women to peacefully protest and help end the war; and Aisha Rateb who was the first woman appointed to Egypt’s highest court, 50 years after she was first told she couldn’t be a judge.

Alexandra Boiger’s lively watercolors and ink illustrations showcase each motivating story. I like the book’s format. Each girl/woman is given a double-page spread with her motivating story shared on the inside page and a full illustration on the opposite page that also includes an important quote from the woman. This book belongs in every school library and pairs nicely with Clinton’s first book, She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World.

Resources: Encourage students to name someone in their family, school, community, country and world that they feel has made a contribution. Even children are making changes in their world. Have kids draw a picture of the individual and write a short paragraph about what this person has done to help others. Also check out the UN’s International Day of the Girl Child.

Every Friday, authors and KidLit bloggers post a favorite picture book. To see a complete listing of all the Perfect Picture Books (PPB) with resources, please visit author Susanna Leonard Hill’s website.

The plight of refugees risking their lives at sea has, unfortunately, made the headlines all too often in the past few years. This book presents five true stories, from 1939 to today, about young people who lived through the harrowing experience of setting sail in search of asylum: Ruth (18) and her family board the St. Louis to escape Nazism; Phu (14) sets out alone from war-torn Vietnam; José (13) tries to reach the United States from Cuba; Najeeba (11) flees Afghanistan and the Taliban; and after losing his family, Mohamed (13) abandons his village on the Ivory Coast in search of a new life. But life is not easy once they arrive. It’s hard to fit in when you don’t speak the language. These child refugees face prejudice. Yet the five make it and lead successful lives.https://gpattridge.com

Stormy Seas combines a vivid and contemporary collage-based design with dramatic storytelling to produce a book that makes for riveting reading as well as a source of timely information. These remarkable accounts will give readers a keen appreciation of the devastating effects of war and poverty on youth like themselves, and helps put the mounting current refugee crisis into stark context.

What I like about this book:

This is a timely and powerful story about resilience and determination. The book doesn’t pull any punches. It is the true stories of five refugee children who face real danger as they escape by sea. One sails aboard an ocean liner and the other four drift in open, unseaworthy boats that are overloaded. There are no lifejackets or bailing cans. Food and water is scarce. They face stormy weather and pirate attacks at sea. The boat refugees leave with hope in their hearts of seeking asylum and freedom from persecution, civil war, drought and natural disasters. They arrive at their destinations ill and needing medical treatment. Some end up in detention or refugee camps.

Reading stories about immigrants that span 80 years, offers readers a greater insight into the current refugee crisis in the Middle East, South America and Africa. It is interesting to compare the past with current events. The stories of the past echo similar themes refugees face today — they are not welcome by many countries. They are ostracized and treated like prisoners. This is an excellent and current book for middle grade students and belongs in school libraries.

Stormy Seas features a beautiful collage design with historical fact sidebars, maps of each child’s journey, timelines, quotes from leaders, and refugee data that includes costs and how many boat people die at sea. This book format is perfect for reading true stories and for research projects. Readers will gain new insights into a social justice issues that date back 600 years. Make sure you read Introduction and the Brief History of the boat people which dates back to 1670 with the Huguenots leaving France for England seeking refuge from religious persecution.

Book Jacket Synopsis: What is a garbologist? How many people live in the Cairo garbage dump? What are the top ten types of human garbage found in the ocean? Where is the Trash Palace?

Did you know that humans have always generated garbage, whether it’s a chewed on leg bone, an old washing machine or a broken cell phone? Trash Talk digs deep into the history of garbage, from Minoan trash pits to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and uncovers some of the many innovative ways people over world are dealing with waste.

Why I like this book:

Michelle Mulder’s Trash Talk is an inspiring call to action for teens to think about garbage in different ways and get involved in a zero-waste world. Her writing style is very conversational as she shares many of her own experiences from her travels around the world. Every page is filled with colorful photographs and intriguing “Trash Fact” trivia sidebars. The book is divided into four major chapters that deal with the abundance of waste, alternative solutions to landfills, dumpster diving, and developing a zero-waste life style. The book is filled with examples of things youth and adults are doing worldwide to address the problems with trash in their communities.

Typically we think of garbage as stinky, germy and dangerous. But, sometimes it is a treasure or can be reimagined into something else. Old tires, jeans and books can be used to insulate houses. Abandoned fishing nets can be made into carpets for office buildings. Mulder provides alternatives to polluted landfills, incinerators that release toxic gases, and dumping into the ocean. She focuses on countries like New Zealand, where 71 percent of the communities are aiming for zero waste. People can drop off their junk at a Trash Palace where others can purchase items others don’t want.

Mulder’s book is also filled with some historical information about how humans have dealt with trash over the centuries. New York City banned people throwing trash into the streets in 1850 and organized trash collection. Recycling was popular in the 1940s during World War II, when people worldwide recycled and donated items like plastic to help the war effort to make equipment, cockpits, and bombs.

Trash Talk is one of many nonfiction books under the Orca Footprintseries for middle grade students. The books are well-written, researched and filled with photos and stories of things youth are doing to create change in their world. There are many resources at the end of Trash Talk that include books, movies and websites. Trash Talk and the books listed below belong in every school library.

Michelle Mulder speaks from experience as her life-long interest in trash began back when she was living in a college dorm. When summer arrived, she began to find perfectly boxed food items, pans, books and furniture pitched because they didn’t fit into a suitcase. She loved to go dumpster diving. Visit Michelle Mulder at her website which lists all her beautiful books and has teacher guides for the classroom.